The Austrian School in the NBER's Business Cycle Studies

This paper is a review of Austrian School references in business cycle studies published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The NBER’s business cycle chronology is limited by its exclusion of the Panic of 1819, described by Rothbard (1962). Another limitation of most NBER cycle literature is a non-reliance on historical accounts. NBER cycle studies focus on the Hayekian version of Austrian business cycle theory (ABCT), an endogenous theory. They overlook exogenous Misesian and Rothbardian versions of ABCT. Business annals were used by Mises, Hayek, and Rothbard, and are part of the Austrian tradition. Annals appear in NBER cycle studies starting with Thorp (1926) and ending with Zarnowitz (1992).